Eight dead in Russian munitions blast

Russia's Defense Ministry has reported that eight military personnel were killed when a truckload of ammunition exploded during a clean up operation at a munitions depot. The Monday blast in the city of Ul-yano-vsk comes just 10 days after an explosion at the same site killed two soldiers and forced the evacuation of hundreds of local residents.

A ministry spokesman said two others were injured in Monday's accident at the arsenal in Ul-yano-vsk, about 900 kilometers south-east of Moscow. The spokesman said a shell detonated while military personnel were loading ammunition onto a truck to be taken away and destroyed. That set off other explosives on the truck, which was badly damaged. Authorities blamed the initial explosion on human error.

Russian NTV television channel TV grab shows a Russian firefighter  putting out flames resulting from a munitions blast in Ulyanovsk.  Eight soldiers died in a munitions blast Monday in central Russia,  a defence ministry spokesman said, at the same arms depot where  two died in a huge accidental weapons explosion 10 days earlier. (AFP/NTV)